Microsoft Offers EU Concessions

In a bid to avoid fines of roughly $2 million a day, Microsoft on Wednesday agreed to take further steps to comply with the European Union (EU) antitrust sanctions. Specifically, the company is offering to provide free unlimited support to any of its competitors that license the server technology documentation, which the EU forced Microsoft to provide.

"In addition to unlimited technical support, Microsoft is further augmenting the program by offering on-site assistance to licensees," a Microsoft statement reads. Antitrust regulators at the European Commission (EC) reacted favorably to the news, though they also noted that Microsoft had failed to alert them to the change before announcing it publicly.

The EC also noted that this change might not be enough to bring Microsoft into compliance. Previously, the EC had complained that the documentation Microsoft provided was essentially useless. "Technical support is only helpful once the documentation has reached a certain quality standard," an EC spokesperson said. "The Commission's preliminary view is that the technical documentation still does not comply with the requirements of the decision."